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Narvik is a map set to be featured in Battlefield V. The map is set during the Battles of Narvik, fought between April 9th to June 8th 1940, specifically depicting the Allied landings at the city on May 28th.
Overview
The seaside town of Narvik is large, but quite rural in appearance, situated between the foot of an imposing mountain range and the Norwegian coast. Arranged in neat rows along the north of the map, the red and yellow painted chalets stand in stark contrast to the white background of the area's innumerable snow-capped cliffs, laden with snow-dusted pine thickets, which slope southwards towards the water's edge. On the outskirts the few roads that branch out from the town link to an assortment of tiny hamlets and hilltop overlooks of the periphery, as well as following the general descent south towards the port.
Although Norway was still neutral at the beginning of 1940, Narvik's fate is inevitably sealed due to these harbour facilities. Accessible year round due to the protective ice-free fjord, it is the export point for Swedish iron ore, a strategic resource vital to the German war effort. The town's close ties to the substance is clearly visible; the hill-like mounds sitting along the dockside, the unending trainloads waiting in the sidings and yards of the locale's extensive rail network, as well as the towering dam-like structure built along the southern shore - the loading point for the large ships the quantities of ore require. A significant portion of the town's vast industrial base, which dominates the southern and inaccessible eastern section of the map, is devoted entirely the flow of iron. To either secure or sever this metallic artery, Narvik must be captured, and both civilians and military personnel alike have already paid a high price - many of the buildings in town are in shambles, bombed or bracketed by naval guns, while the stricken and flaming hulks of the devastated fleet responsible lie stranded in the bay's calm waters.
The open and highly variable terrain of Narvik caters to many styles of gameplay, capable of supporting infantry, tanks and aircraft alike. The northern hills and town outskirts, as well as the large docking platform to the south, grant opportunities for long range gunfights, whereas closer to the northern mountains, combat becomes more oriented around street fighting, with the charge of buildings and roadways becoming more important in the battle-scarred yet deceptively dense central block.
Conquest
Conquest on Narvik is fought between six flags, arranged into a pair of threes, arranged roughly linearly across the map length. The first three objectives alphabetically concern the northern urban section and its outlying suburbs, while the remaining three are positioned along the south coast, comprising industrial areas of interest.
Equipment
As of the Open Beta, two tanks, two aircraft, two halftracks and a Kettenkrad are available to each team, as well as a towable Pak 40.
Deployments
British Deployment
The main British deployment is in the north-west corner of the map, in a cliffside Gully west of Artillery Base. The area is sheltered by several high ridges and dipping terrain, shielding the country road heading into town. Upon one of these ridges is a Pak 40 and two unbuilt Vickers HMGs, along with an Ammo Cache. Another Ammo Cache is to the south next to a vehicle resupply station, and a single Flak 38 is located behind a shack far to the rear.
Further south is the second British spawn, on the Outskirts inland from the Coast. Just uphill is the Western Trainyard, which continues directly east towards Train and the docking platform. This location holds a Flak 38 and a Health Station, with another Health station and Ammo Cache at the near end of the Yard. A Pak 40-towing halftrack is available from this secondary spawn position.
German Deployment
The Germans spawns are along the eastern edge of the map. Of their two possible deployment points, one is to the north in the hills, in line with Ammo Depot - here, the faction's light vehicles are found along the road checkpoint for the port, in addition to two vehicle resupply stations and two sets of ammo and health caches. For defense around the checkpoint, two PaK 40s, a Flak 38 and a Vickers are set up in emplaced positions.
The southern spawn is around the port facilities to the south. This eastern section of the railyard offers players spawning on it protection in the form of large piles of ore, a Flak gun and three PaK 40s, one of which is set up at the end of a jetty, covering the waterline. Health and Ammo can be retrieved from either side of the rail track. Another Halftrack spawns here with a Pak 40 ready in tow.
Around both German deployments, Engineer combat roles players can build additional emplaced PaK 40s.
Flags
A: Artillery Base
The Artillery Base is at the summit of a hill dotted with pine trees, known simply as North Hill, in the north-east of Narvik. The hill is bordered by uneven high ground to the west, where several unusable heavy howitzers are emplaced amongst concrete pillboxes, watching over the fjord. Only a small section of the capture zone is dedicated to this area however, with the main body being centered around flattened section of the ascent, where two houses have be built, one south and one east of an open air storage area for munitions. The yard between these structures is quite open aside from heaped snowdrifts around the perimeter and the few trees, making the houses the most substantial choice of protection.
In Conquest, the base features two Flak 38 positions, with in the front yard of the eastern house, and the other nearer the bunkers on the North Hill overlook - this second gun can be further shielded with sandbag walls. A PaK 40 covers the north side approach, and two Vickers guns can be used to watch the low ground and ravine viaduct to the direct east. A Flak 38 can be built atop a climbable fuel silo at the west end of said viaduct. A Kettenkrad spawns here when seized.
B: Train
The Train flag is around the south-west section of the bay. It is the point where the western Train Yard meets up with the large docking platform that spans waterline across the map's southern edge. A stationary cargo train divides the upper deck of the double-level platform into two lanes, to the sides of which are modest cover positions in the form a shipping crates and low piles of ore. A roofed shelter, on of three on the whole platform, falls within the capture zone on the west side. Aside from the structure itself, the flag radius spreads to a low beach on the south side, permitting captures from the shoreline and even underneath the bridge's supporting arches. Scaffolding and ladders along each side of the dock can be scaled to reach the raised sections. Additionally, the ravine road that passes by to the north can similarly be used to influence the flag status.
A Vickers guns can be built amongst the reinforcement points around this shelter comprising the eastern portion of the upper deck capture zone. It is orientated along the length of the dock westwards. Directly below on the lower platform is an ammo cache, with no accompanying health station nearby. Directly west at the lip of the Train Yard hill is a Pak 40 and Flak 38.
C: Town
The Town flag is in the middle of the built up urban section of the map's northern half. The town consists of rows of detached, multi-storey detached houses, some intact, some heavily damaged, and others completely burned out or left and blasted hulks. The capture point itself amounts to an unkempt snowy courtyard surrounded by all sides by buildings of various states of repair. The terrain slopes downhill to the south at an increasingly steep rate - in this way, the second storeys of houses that line the south side of the capture zone are lower than the top of the hill. As the flag is in the open middle ground, players utilising the house cover will be predominantly on the outer perimeter, and so will be slow to influence flag capture. These covered positions can be reduced with explosives, and subsequently built back up again using the fortifications system.
A Vehicle resupply station is found along the northern road that passes through the town center, although tank traps can be built along the road to stop vehicles from entering the capture point. Health is on the west side of the inner yard and Ammo can be taken from a cache in a destroyed house on the east side.
D: Loading Bay
The Loading Bay is in the map's south center, and is at the east end of the raised docking platform that straddles the edge of the bay. Once the site at which ships would take on their metalliferous earthen cargo, the structure has sustained severe damage, with splintered timber, twisted rail tracks and upturned rail carts jutting out of the massive ramp of debris. As with Train, the flag can be captured from both the upper and lower sections of the dock bridge, with the elevated platform offering good sightlines over the surrounding area at the cost of leaving players exposed from fire from the northern hills. The lower level is safer, but still in enfilade along the horizontal axis. Both spaces can be reinforced with sandbag wall cover. Unlike Train, the capture zone is much larger and more spread out, allowing players to capture the point from behind the rows of derailed ore trucks that litter the otherwise open ground level, or by hiding under the structure's archways. The flag can again be captured from the water at certain points.
Ammo and Health stations are found on the lower and upper sections of the dock, respectively. A vehicle repair station is along the north side of the middle of the bridge, next to another Ammo cache and in line with the ravine crossed by a narrow rail viaduct further north.
E: Ammo Depot
The Ammo Depot consists of a fortified cluster of houses on the east side of town - in addition to the two intact multi-storeys and one smaller outbuilding facing the main road on the west side, the capture zone encompasses a battery of gun positions dug into a high cliff to the north-east. This gun line, made up of two Vickers, a PaK 40 and a Flak 38, definitely cover the low ground and surrounding streets between the Depot and the central Town objective. Along the zone's southern edge are another pair of Vickers and a PaK gun. The Ammo and Health stations are close by in the back gardens of the houses.
A Kettenkrad spawns on this flag when captured.
F: Ore Depot
The Ore Depot is within the east dockyards. It consists of two buildings across from one another in an open compound surrounded by wire fence. Aside from the structures, the edges of the capture zone are full of cover, ranging from stacks of crates, lumber and iron as well as stationary train cars around the north side, however the flat, low-lying position is exposed to fire from the tops of the ore heaps, the raised conveyor belts, and the hillside to the north. Outside of the capture zone around the west side, mounded fighting positions and tank traps can be built to impede attackers coming along the rail tracks or cutting between the ore stacks.
A Vickers is set up south-east of the flag, and can be used to stop advances along the generally uncovered shoreline. A Flak 38 is found in a pit behind the eastern house, and another Pak 40 is found on the north side of the tracks, pointed towards Loading Bay - it is close to a vehicle repair station. Health and Ammo caches are found the in the middle ground between the two buildings.
Grand Operations
Narvik is the first map in a yet-unnamed Grand Operation concerning the British counterstroke against German-occupied Norway.
Airborne
Airborne takes place at night, with the Aurora Borealis casting an unearthly light over the map, which is not overly dark due to the heavy presence of reflective snow. As the Allied fleet enters the ice-free Fjord to offload an amphibious invasion fleet, airborne troops are sent ahead to take out the German coastal defenses prepped to soften up the approaching land contingent.
Deployments
The Attacker's aircraft approach from the south-west, flying over the fjord's waters and passing over the main body of objectives, typically arriving in groups of three. In the first wave, all players and deployed along the beach area known as Coast, which serves as the spawn point for the team's bombs.
The German's two base deployment points are around the eastern end of the docking platform, the Conquest objective of Train. Alternatively, they deploy to the east of Artillery Base.
Objectives
Four objectives are present in this mode, with the British team allocated a maximum of two bombs. Once one gun remains, the British must complete the mission with a single bomb only.
A
The nearest gun to the British deployment is at the western end of the Train Yard, along with a Health and Ammo Station. The wire perimeter can be fortified with sandbag walls in order to limit access points to attackers, who may still advance along the length of the train yard using the southern slope before doubling back to attack the spike the gun.
B
Objective B is to the north-east of A, atop a ridge lined with Pillboxes that overlooks the first gun - this is South Hill. The lip of the ridge can similarly be built up with sandbags, and offers a commanding view of the Coast and the initial drop zones.
C
Gun C is close to B, but shifted slightly north along the summit of North Hill. The position is vulnerable to being attacked from the blind western slope, where several nearby ridges can hide the approach of attackers.
D
The final gun is the nearest to the Artillery Base, again further north of guns B and C.
Outcomes
For the attackers, destroying all four guns will cripple the German defensive strategy, winning a major victory and allowing the landing fleet to reach shore virtually unopposed. Destroying between two and three guns will net the British a minor victory or draw respectively, with some losses inflicted before resuming operations on Day 2. If one or no guns were destroyed, a minor or major defeat is inflicted on the attackers, and heavy losses are reported amongst their assault wave.
Regardless of outcome, the Germans are unable to completely destroy the British fleet, with the land assault scheduled for daybreak.
Breakthrough
The landed British forces make a bid to retake the town and its valuable port facilities from the German defenders, now supported by tanks and combat aircraft.
Sector 1
In the first sector, objective A is the Artillery Base and objective B is Train.
Sector 2
The next set of objectives are Town and Loading Bay, respectively.
Sector 3
In the final stage, the British are tasked with attacking the main German facilities at Ammo Depot and Ore Depot. At this point, the defenders receive substantial heavy armor support in the form of the four tanks, as well as two combat aircraft.
Outcomes
If the British are successful in overcoming all three sectors, the Germans retreat to Fjell 652 to make their last stand in Norway.
Gallery
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Trivia
- The internal name for this map in Closed Alpha is MP_ArcticFjord. The name Arctic Fjord was used to refer to the map at various points during pre-release, including in official blog posts and assignment descriptions in the Open Beta.
- In the Closed-Alpha and Beta, a Blue whale can be found on this map swimming by the B,D, and F flags.